Curcumin, vitamin C fight fluoride-induced renal injury

Sunday Sept 30, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Fluoride damages the brain and kidneys among other things. But you don't have to be a victim. A new study in Biological Trace Element Research suggests that taking vitamin C or curcumin supplements can help reduce kidney injury induced by fluoride, which is added in drinking water in the U.S.

The study led by Nabavi SF of National Elites Foundation of Iran in Tehran, Iran and colleagues showed that daily exposure to drinking water with 600 ppm sodium fluoride for as short as one week caused renal injury in rats.

The study also showed that intraperitoneal administration of curcumin at a dose of 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight one week prior to the fluoride treatment significantly reduced the oxidative stress and the toxicity of fluoride.

For the study, one week after the treatments with fluoride and curcumin, the researchers measured "lipid peroxidation level, activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and level of glutathione in kidney homogenate" and also creatinine, serum urea and blood urea nitrogen levels in blood samples.

Another group of rats received vitamin C at a dose of 10 mg/kg as standard antioxidant.

Both curcumin and vitamin C treatments prior to fluoride treatment normalized the levels of serum creatinine, serum urea, and blood urea nitrogen. And they also prevented the antioxidant enzyme from decreasing and kept lipid peroxidation levels balanced.

In another study released in Renal Failure, the researchers also found a similar profective effect from quercetin supplements at a dose of 20 mg/kg.

Still another study published in Pharmaceutical Biology showed that administration of lycopene at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight per day provided similar benefits. This study was conducted by Heba H. Mansour of the National Centre for Radiation Research and Technology (NCRRT), Atomic Energy Authority in Cairo, Egypt and colleagues.

Both curcumin and vitamin C supplements are critically important for preventing damages from toxic chemicals like fluoride and radiation from nuclear disasters and medical diagnostics and treatment.

Food consumers who want fluoride out of their drinking water may use a reverse osmosis water filter. Ordinary water filters can't get rid of fluoride. Another type of water filter that can be used for the same purpose is based on aluminum nanomaterial, which is less desirable to some consumers because of the filtering material used.

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